Lin says he won't make presidential bid

Former Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) chairman Lin I-hsiung (林義雄) yesterday said that he has no plans to run for president now, but could do so in the future.

"I do not have such plans," he said when approached by the media in Taichung yesterday.

But he also said: "The political situation may change in the future, and so may my opinion."

When asked to comment on the war of words between the four DPP presidential aspirants, Lin said negative campaigning is common and not surprising, but the hopefuls should not resort to negative attacks against each other.

"I hope the DPP's presidential candidates will listen to voices from within the party and do more `homework' so that they are truly qualified to be the next Taiwanese president," he said.

Lin added that the nation's next president should assume the responsibility of reducing the political wrangling between the pan-green and pan-blue camps.

DPP presidential hopefuls yesterday expressed differing opinions on the issue before attending a debate organized by the party at the Grand Hotel in Taipei.

While Premier Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) has said that he would drop out of the race if Lin were to run for president before he secured the party's nomination, Vice President Annette Lu (呂秀蓮) yesterday declined to comment.

Former premier Frank Hsieh (謝長廷) said he would respect Lin's decision but took the opportunity to criticize Su's remark.

"Whether Lin will run for president is a hypothetical question," Hsieh said. "It would create a lot of problems and exert a lot of pressure on other contenders if any of us said he or she would drop out of the race if Lin joins it."

DPP Chairman Yu Shyi-kun yesterday said he would respect Lin's decision and give him his blessing if Lin decided to run.

Yu also said that Lin is "of noble character and enjoys high prestige."

Yu said Lin would offer voters a good choice if he entered the race.